Picture of a phone screen lighting up next to a laptop on a desk.
Picture of a phone screen lighting up next to a laptop on a desk.

Using a designed survey, I recorded information about each time I checked my phone. The collected data reveals insights about the purpose of checking, screen time, distraction patterns and the impact of notifications.

Comparing Screen Time by the Main Purposes

A horizontal boxplot chart comparing screen time based on the main purpose of checking the phone.
A horizontal boxplot chart comparing screen time based on the main purpose of checking the phone.

Across the main purposes of checking the phone, entertainment has the highest median screen time, while communication, checking notifications, and “No reason” show relatively low screen time.

Despite the low screen time on average, checking the notification led to one of the longest sessions of 45 minutes, showing its impact on phone usage.

The Distraction Patterns as regards to Notification

A vertical bar chart comparing distraction rates in sessions triggred by notifications or not.
A vertical bar chart comparing distraction rates in sessions triggred by notifications or not.

When specifically look at the distraction rate by notification, the result shows that I am more likely to get distracted if the phone checking behaviour is prompted by a notification versus deliberate checking.

This indicates that by controlling and reducing notifications, I could potentially decrease the chance of getting sidetracked from the main purpose when checking the phone.

The Distraction Patterns in Two Periods

A horizontal stacked bar chart showing the proportion of time distracted or not across two project periods.
A horizontal stacked bar chart showing the proportion of time distracted or not across two project periods.

This graph shows the comparison between the distraction rate when I was recording data for project 2 versus project 4. It shows that I got distracted from the main purpose of phone checking more when working for project 4.

Since between two periods, no changes to notification was made, the difference could potentially due to other external factors such as differences in my stress level or study schedules.

In Conclusion

Overall, while there could be other confounding factors affecting the examined variables. The results suggest that the main purpose of phone checking could affect my screen time, and notification could play a role in my distraction tendency. Appropriate measures could be taken to reduce screen time and likelihood of getting sidetracked.